Micro English Learning: 秋的話題

Micro English Learning

Now, it’s the end of August and a lot of kids will go back to school, which means Autumn has come. 現在是8月底，很多孩子都要回學校了，這意味著秋天已經來臨。

And you can feel a little bit of chill in the air, and watch the color of leaves changing. In fact, Americans described the period of time as 「Sweater Weather」. 你可能感覺到空氣中有一點涼意，觀察到樹葉的顏色變化。事實上，美國人把這段時間稱之為「毛衣天氣」。

「Sweater weather」 is those cool nights and mornings as the transition between seasons. You can see this concept of 「sweater weather」 reflected in all of the clothing stores, and what colors are popular for the new season. 「毛衣天氣」指的是那些隨著季節交替而涼爽下來的夜晚和早晨。你還可以看到「毛衣天氣」的概念反映在所有的服裝店裡，以及這個新的季節流行什麼顏色。

In addition, If you're familiar with the American holiday of Thanksgiving, which they celebrate in November, they have a dessert called pumpkin pie. 此外，如果你熟悉美國人在11月慶祝的感恩節，他們還有一種甜點叫南瓜派。

Particularly, from September, you can see the pumpkin spice stuff everywhere, such as pumpkin spiced cereal, cakes, muffins, cookies etc. people started going crazy for these tastes and smells. 特別是從9月開始，你能看到南瓜口味的東西到處都是，如南瓜五香麥片，蛋糕，鬆餅，餅乾等，人們開始為這些味道和氣味瘋狂。

And instead of waiting until November to eat dessert on Thanksgiving, they started thinking about it much much earlier. 他們不是等到11月才在感恩節吃甜點，而是更早就開始考慮了。

You probably are noticing pumpkin spice lattes and coffees. There are also pumpkin scented candles, pumpkin scented cleaning supplies, you name it. Those probably exist with pumpkin spice. 你可能注意到了南瓜味的拿鐵和咖啡，還有南瓜香味蠟燭、南瓜香味清潔用品，凡是你能想到的。這些都可能與南瓜味兒一起存在。

So this is something that Americans are definitely talking about during this time. And here is a great question you can use with neighbors and friends if you want to talk about it. 所以這絕對是這期間美國人正在談論的事情。而且這兒有一個很好的問題，如果你想談論它，你可以在與鄰居和朋友之間做交流用。

「Are you into that pumpkin spice crazy that I see everywhere?」 If they answer 「yes」, you might ask them what they love about it. It’s a great conversation starter. 「你喜歡我到處看到的那種瘋狂的南瓜味兒嗎?」 如果他們回答「是」，你可能會問他們喜歡它的什麼。這是一個很好的話題開始。

Other things that you can ask about this transition time is:

你還可以問一些別的問題:

a. What do you love about the fall season?

你喜歡秋天的什麼?

b. Do you like the crisp fall air?

你喜歡秋天清新的空氣嗎?

c. Do you like the smell of leaves and the sound that they make when you walk on them?

你喜歡樹葉的氣味和當你走在樹葉上時發出的聲音嗎?

d. Do you have any last end-of-summer plans?

暑假末你有什麼計劃嗎?